GitLab says anyone may contribute suggestions on any subject, including people outside the company. The person responsible for the work decides how to proceed, while taking suggestions seriously and explaining why suggestions may or may not be used.

Open Input and Decision Ownership in GitLab Collaboration

GitLab values caring for others and treats care as a basis for direct challenge and feedback. It says kindness does not require avoiding disagreement or withholding feedback, and that people can criticize work while remaining respectful toward the person.

Caring Directness in GitLab Feedback

GitLab encourages recognizing people who helped and says open, frequent recognition can increase team engagement. At the same time, the handbook notes that public praise may feel awkward or uncomfortable, so thanks should be sincere, explain the reason for recognition, and can happen in venues beyond a single channel.

Public Recognition Norms in GitLab's Values Handbook

GitLab describes the Fundamental Attribution Error as a double standard in which people explain their own mistakes by circumstances but explain others' mistakes by the individual. To reduce this bias, the handbook advises assuming positive intent, respecting others' expertise, and giving grace when a perceived mistake occurs.

Assuming Positive Intent to Mitigate Fundamental Attribution Error

In a disagreement, a steel-man approach means responding to the strongest good-faith version of the other person's position instead of attacking a weak or imaginary version. A good steel-man representation is one the other person feels fairly represents their view, even if they still disagree with the assumptions or conclusion.

Steel-Manning Disagreements

GitLab's guidance says people should be more accepting when others take initiative to improve things. Because decision-making can slow as companies grow, it encourages people to have short toes and feel comfortable letting others contribute to their domain.

Short-Toes Norm for Cross-Domain Initiative

GitLab presents effective collaboration as necessary for achieving results. It says helping others is a priority even when the help is not immediately tied to one's own goals, and it expects people to rely on others for help and advice.

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GitLab states that its six core values are Collaboration, Results for Customers, Efficiency, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Iteration, and Transparency. GitLab groups these values into the CREDIT acronym and links them to the expectation that people assume good intent with one another.

GitLab's Stated CREDIT Values

GitLab public handbook values page describing CREDIT values, public values, reinforcement mechanisms, remote-work culture, transparency, collaboration, iteration, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and results for customers. https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/values/

GitLab Handbook: Values

GitLab says its values are made actionable. After finding a larger values list difficult to remember, GitLab condensed the list into CREDIT and added operating principles to guide behavior.

Actionable Operating Principles for GitLab's CREDIT Values

GitLab describes its values as a living document. The company says its values are continually adjusted, refined, and revised based on lessons learned while doing business, and that everyone is welcome to suggest improvements.

GitLab Values as a Living Document

GitLab says it makes its values public because teams that share values gain power and efficiency, and because publishing values respects job seekers who are evaluating whether they align with the company.

Public Values for Candidate Self-Selection at GitLab

GitLab describes its values hierarchy as a weighting system for resolving confusion and weighing tradeoffs when values contradict each other.

GitLab Values Hierarchy for Tradeoff Decisions

Collaboration in GitLab's Stated Values

GitLab says it demonstrates results for customers when team members do what they promised to each other, customers, users, and investors.

Results for Customers in GitLab's CREDIT Competencies

GitLab says it demonstrates efficiency by working on the right things, not doing more than needed, and not duplicating work.

Efficiency in GitLab's CREDIT Competencies

GitLab says it demonstrates iteration by doing the smallest viable and valuable thing, getting it out quickly for feedback, and making changes based on that feedback.

Iteration in GitLab's CREDIT Competencies

GitLab says it demonstrates diversity, inclusion, and belonging by fostering an environment where everyone can thrive and by ensuring people from every background and circumstance feel like they belong and can contribute.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in GitLab's CREDIT Competencies

GitLab says it demonstrates transparency by being open with as many things as possible, reducing the threshold to contribution, and making collaboration easier.

Transparency in GitLab's CREDIT Competencies

GitLab states that whatever behavior an organization rewards becomes its values, and it reinforces values through promotion criteria, hiring selection, onboarding, compensation review, decision-making, leadership example, feedback, bonuses, offer letters, underperformance management, and other practices.

GitLab Values Reinforcement Mechanisms

GitLab says proposals should be weighed on their merits rather than who proposed them, and that people should be promoted based on results rather than being liked or having alliances.

Non-Political Work Environment at GitLab

GitLab states that all-remote is not itself a value, but is something GitLab does because it helps practice transparency, efficiency, results, and diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

All-Remote as a GitLab Values Practice

GitLab states that its mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers the world, and that this mission guides its path while it lives its values along that path.

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